'The Best Portable Document Scanner' Scanners range in price from as little as $60 to more than $1,000. To help you find the scanner that best fits your needs and budget, ConsumerSearch digs through expert reviews at sites such as PCMag, Wirecutter, TechRadar and others. Before you learn which is the best photo scanner, however, you must understand what a photo scanner is. Like other scanners, a photo scanner is an optical scanner designed to capture information. It then transfers this information to the computer.

Scanning old photo prints and digitizing them for posterity has become a critical exercise in recent times.

Though photo prints were meant to last for a hundred years, many of our old albums have now started to deteriorate and disintegrate. The result is priceless memories on the verge of getting lost in the sands of time. Thus, a high-quality photo scanner is a must-have for every home.

Today we are going to look at some of the best Epson photo scanners that you could buy. This list is not expected to be a comprehensive one. If you have any suggestions for other scanners, feel free to share it with us in the comment section.

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Scanning old photos with a flatbed (or even AIO printers) is a long drawn and extremely time-consuming process. The thought of having to feed thousands of photo prints (if your family is like mine) to a scanner and waiting for it to make a pass and digitize the memory, for days on end, can send shivers down the spine of any strong individual. The best Epson photo scanners, however, can be a big help here, making short work of an otherwise tedious chore.

✔ Our Picks (Best Photos Scanners)

Our Pick for Best Photo Scanner: Epson Perfection V850 Pro Scanner

Best Budget Photo Scanner: Epson Perfection V39 Photo Scanner

1. Epson FastFoto FF-640 High-Speed Photo Scanner (Easy Instal & Setup)

The Epson FastFoto FF-640 is a lightning fast scanner. It scans images of the size between 8.5” x 120” (for Windows users only) to a minimum of 2” x 2” at a maximum resolution of 600 DPI. Mac users can scan only scan up to the largest size of 8.5” x 14.5”. You can choose the standard 4” x 6” print, and the scanner will scan them at a maximum speed of 60 ppm at 300 DPI.

Though speed isn’t always the operative word here, resolution certainly is. You can scan larger documents at a speed of 45 ppm at a resolution of 300 DPI.

The scanner has the capability to render colors 48-bit internally and 24-bit externally. No matter how many colors your prints have the FastFoto FF-640 is capable delivering them accurately.

Moreover, the Single-step technology (which is a secondary scanner inside the scanner) is capable of scanning both the image and any handwritten notes on your images in a single pass.

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Scanning Images

Even when you are scanning documents, you have the ability to scan both sides at the same time which saves a considerable amount of time. Speaking of saving time, the built-in ADF has a capacity of 30 photo prints or about 80 documents. That saves you from the hassle of having to sit and feed the prints to your scanner. You can do other things while the scanner digitizes your prints/documents.

Some users have noted issues while scanning old Polaroid photos, but overall the FastFoto FF-640 is a good solution for scanning old photos. Certainly one of the best Epson photo scanners around.

Scan Utility

The scanner comes with an installation disk and an array of services. The installation process is simple. While scanning you can specify details like where you took the photos, which folder to store the photos too, what application to load up after the scan is done etc.

Entering a year allows the application to create an appropriate file name and entering a small description for each batch of photos ensure that the files are properly filed according to the year you took them and the keywords.

The utilities can even make minor adjustments like correcting red-eye or restoring colors that have faded over time. Everything happens seamlessly and smoothly.

Later on, if you prefer to add more photos to the same batch, you can do so by importing them to the specific batch of photos.

Epson FastFoto FF-640 High-Speed Photo Scanning System with Auto Photo Feeder

World's Fastest Photo Scanner (1) - scan thousands of photos as fast as 1 photo per second (2).
High-quality scans up to 600 dpi - scan precious images, from wallets to panoramic photos.
Preserve what's priceless - Restore, Save, Organize and Share images.
(1) In its class, as compared to other consumer photo scanners priced under $1,000 MSRP USD (sold into the United States..
(2) Based on average speed from start of scan to end, using Windows driver, scanning thirty 4' x 6' photos at 300 dpi in..

Product from Amazon. Updated on 2019-09-05. We may get a commission.

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2. Best Negative Scanner: Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner

The Epson Perfection V600 is a color photo scanner designed to scan 35mm and medium format film, photo print and take care of other general scanning tasks.

The V600 is a flatbed scanner, and that means the design and its functionalities have certain disadvantages that outweigh the advantages.

By the company’s admission, the film scanning is not in the same league as some of the higher quality products that Epson makes, however, the overall package is a better bargain than traditional cheap flatbeds.

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Digital ICE

The V600 is a model that is priced between the more economically priced V500 and the higher priced V700. We will discuss the V800 (the upgraded version of the V700) later in this discussion.

An important addition on the V600 is the Digital ICE technology. This is a hardware technology that is aimed at removing scratches and dust elements on prints and films that degrade the quality of the scans.

The V500 also has this feature. So, what’s new on the V600? Digital ICE on the V500 could manage this correction only for films while the V600 does the same for both film and prints. There is, however, a downside to this technology. It being that artefacts are introduced into the image due to the nature of the dust removal technique which involves multiple scans and comparing the images.

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Scan Sizes

But let’s first take a look at the bright side, namely the best features of this scanner. The maximum resolution at which the scanner can make copies of prints is 6400 x 9600 DPI. It can scan 35mm film as well as 120 / 220 film size (medium format).

On the downside, the V600 can scan only four 35mm slides at one go. There is no multi-feed option. This greatly increases the time frame if you have several of these films in your collection and you need them to be scanned.

The largest document width that the scanner can handle is 8.5” and the largest document length being 11.7”.

The integrated software comes with an array of Auto and Manual features. A lot of times poor exposure settings under difficult lighting situations can result in bright backgrounds and under-exposed faces. The V600’s Auto mode can automatically correct these. It can also do a professional of adjusting tones, restoring color and contrasts which is a major problem with old prints with washed out colors.

The surprising thing is that the V600’s scanner can pick up subtle details like the luster of fabric in direct light etc. much quicker than other comparable flatbed scanners.

Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative & Document Scanner

Create extraordinary enlargements from film : 6400 x 9600 dpi for enlargements up to 17 Inches x 22 Inches
Remove the appearance of dust and scratches from film : Digital ICE

Best Portable Photo Scanner For Mac